7th Year Repeat
by CelestinaJaneGWarlock
Summary: After the war Harry and company return to Hogwarts  all willingly except for Ron  to properly finish their magical learning. Everything has changed after the war including Hogwarts and the people in it. Finally they get to live a the normal life. With OC.
1. Chapter 1

**I've actually always thought of and written fanfiction of Harry Potter with my original character, but found it kind of embarrassing to post online, because it isn't canon and people might (and will) judge me for it. But I figured that everyone has their own preferred version of the stories, and if they decide that they don't like mine, they can move on to something else. There are 506,000+ pieces of fanfiction on on Harry Potter alone. They should be able to find their cup of tea somewhere, right? **

**Anyway, this is mine. My fanfiction, that is. I don't own Harry Potter and any of the other characters or magical items and terms (unless I specifically mention it later on). I do, however own my Original Character-duh. **

**I've also never written in chapters though. Actually, this first chapter just came to me a couple of hours ago while I was reading a DxHr piece. :") In any case, I hope you enjoy. Please rate and review as well! Thanks! : )**

**P.S. I don't have an appropriate title for this just yet. So just bear with me on this one. For now, this is going under the thoroughly uncreative title of "Harry Potter Repeats His 7th Year."**

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**Chapter One**

"Had you, or anyone for that matter, told me six months ago—no, a _year_ ago, that I'd be sitting my arse back here waiting for Double Potions with the Slytherins, I'd say you were barking mad," Ron said, annoyed. He took a menacing bite out of his apple.

"Oh don't be so dramatic," Hermione retorted, rolling her eyes and taking a sip off her orange juice. "Remember that you willingly came back here as well."

Ron snorted, "Only because the pair of you thought it was the best idea. I came to see if I can manage to talk you out of it."

"Well you aren't trying that hard, are you? It's only been a day," Hermione sneered, holding back a small laugh.

Harry sighed, but gave a little smile. "It's good to see that some things haven't changed."

Everything else, however, had.

Hermione had spoken the truth. It was their first day back at Hogwarts clad in their school uniforms, waiting for their first class of the day: Double Potions. And even Harry could admit that he almost believed himself to be dreaming when he woke up in his four-poster bed in the Gryffindor Tower that morning, with a full load of classes to look forward to.

Like Ron, if anyone had told Harry months ago that he would find himself in this place at this point in time, he probably wouldn't have believed him. The last time he had simply woken up to face schoolwork seemed ages ago. It had already been more than a year ago. And the last time that he sat in any classroom discussing lessons was perhaps on the day before Dumbledore had asked him to come to the Cave with him to destroy the horcrux which neither of them had known yet to be only a replica.

Since then Harry's life had been chaotic and to be honest, with prophecy that Harry had known a year prior to that point, he was probably asking too much to even be alive at this point in his life.

And yet he was here, sitting at in the Great Hall, eating breakfast with Ron and Hermione, looking forward to class (at least Hermione was). It seemed almost too mundane, not to have anything else worrying them. What seemed even more surreal were the changes that have already happened since that day that they last stood in the Great Hall before this morning.

When Harry closed his eyes, he could still hear a great struggle. He could hear wizards and witches, elves and other creatures waging war against Voldemort and his Death Eaters right here in this very hall. As if in slow motion, he could still feel vividly his emotions when they stood in silence, with only the voice of Voldemort echoing from the Forbidden Forest, challenging Harry to face him once and for all, giving him only an hour's time before he attacked Hogwarts. Harry could remember the battle he himself had to face, that moment when he knew he was stronger and that Voldemort was moments away from perishing. He replayed over and over the memory of Voldemort finally falling and everyone coming to a halt, awestruck at the end of the war. And he could remember the ruins that once used to be Hogwarts as everyone, war-torn and tired gathered in the Great Hall in shock and perhaps in slight disbelief that at least, everything was over.

In the weeks that followed the end of the Battle at Hogwarts, there was a mix of difference happenings and emotions. Those of the general wizarding population rejoiced for finally their time of fear and hiding was over. People danced in the streets and performed magic even in the presence of unsuspecting Muggles. People were elated and for once, even the Ministry paid little or no attention to wizards doing magic in public—people were too happy to care.

The Ministry itself was in shambles. There was hardly any form of Wizarding Government left as the Death Eaters had taken over it for months. New management had to be dealt with and order had to be replaced immediately.

As for those that were at the battle, some families grieved albeit their pride for their family defeating dark wizards. The Creeveys came to fetch Colin that night, right after the battle. It took them a while to understand exactly why Colin left them, what exactly their son had done for the Wizarding Community. They were Muggles and their cries filled the Hall. Even the Weasleys mourned that night. Mrs. Weasley cried for weeks on end following her son's death. And while the Weasley men and even Ginny eventually stopped crying themselves, talking about Fred still made them misty-eyed, even if they've come to terms with his death.

They also grieved the loss of Tonks and Lupin, whom they've all become very close to. No one spoke right away about who would take care of Teddy, who for now lived with Bill and Fleur.

After everyone had cleared the grounds of Hogwarts, they all retreated to their own homes to take care of the holes that their families now had. Meanwhile, Hogwarts itself was closed, owing to the damages that the war had inflicted on the castle.

Three months after the battle, owl post arrived announcing the re-opening of Hogwarts come fall. Everyone was surprised about how instantly the school was once again "opening its doors for magical learning, starting anew and birthing a new era for the Wizarding Society." With the announcement came an invitation for those students who were unable to properly finish their schooling due to the war period to return to school and finish their studies. That was true for most of Harry's friends and schoolmates, most especially for him, Ron and Hermione.

Without hesitation, Hermione promptly replied to the letter, filling out the re-application form that came with it, indicating her request to return to school. Harry followed suit, thinking that while the current Aurors at the Minstry already regarded him capable of starting his training as an Auror, that he would return to properly earn the credits he would need for his Auror training. Ron, who to no one's surprise, chucked the letter in the rubbish bin only to discover it on his bedside the next day, thanks to Hermione. On the excuse that he would try to talk Harry and Hermione out of it, he sent off his re-application as well, telling them that they no longer needed to go back to school.

"With all the things that we've dealt with over the past year, we don't need to come back," Ron told Hermione over and over again—back in the Burrow, on the Platform, in the Hogwarts Express, all the way until this breakfast conversation they were currently having.

It had been five months since the Battle, since the Wizarding World was finally rid of Voldemort. But Harry had not been to school for far longer than that. Logically speaking, Harry and his friends should be out of Hogwarts by this time. But now, he was going to be able to rewind time, living out his seventh year at Hogwarts in a completely different and more peaceful way—the way that it should have been from the very beginning.

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**Thanks for reading this chapter! I do hope you read on! Please review so I can learn how to make it better. : )**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"What's he fussing on about this time?" Ginny asked, slipping into the seat next to Harry's.

"Same old," answered Hermione, no longer looking up from her Potions book. Ron's eyes narrowed at her.

"Are you seriously reading that thing? With the stuff we've already had to brew and use and considering how we've used them, I don't think we need these lessons anymore," he said.

Hermione bit her lip to prevent herself from starting a new spat with Ron.

"I mean," Ron continued. He suddenly shifted uncomfortably in his seat when he noticed Hermione's simple gesture, "for what it's worth, you should be teaching the subject, not still attending classes for it. You already know everything."

Ginny heard Harry quietly snort next to her. She looked at him and understood. Ron and Hermione had properly gotten together a few weeks after the battle. They had kept things quiet in lieu of Fred's passing, but as soon as life at the Burrow was back to normal (and Hermione had returned after retrieving her parents in Australia), they announced that they were together. And despite everyone rolling their eyes, saying their "we knew its" and "we all saw thing coming from millennia away's" they went about (as best they could with what little they knew) being a couple. So far, they hadn't fought, as Ron kept showering Hermione with as many awkward compliments as he could. It was only when Hermione decided to go back to Hogwarts did they start showing signs of fighting again, but it was obvious that they both avoided it as much as they could, Hermione preferring to turn a deaf ear to Ron instead.

"I think you should just shut it and go along," Ginny said, almost bored with Ron's complaints. Ron opened his mouth to speak but froze, something seemingly caught his eye from somewhere behind Hermione.

"Murmuring Mermaids," he muttered.

Hermione looked up from the pages of her book and narrowed her eyes at Ron who was now sporting a dreamy-eyed look, as if he had just seen a treat that he hasn't had in years or the way he used to eye Fleur Delacour. Slowly, Hermione turned her head.

Ginny herself looked past Hermione. They were looking at a small crowd of girls that had just entered the Great Hall. There were three of them. The first was a tall blond girl with long, straight hair which fell to her waist. She was excitedly chatting with a girl shorter than she was, with shoulder-length black hair and a red head-band. Ginny was familiar with them both. They were in her year in Ravenclaw.

The third girl, to their right was the same height as the second girl. She too had black hair which fell to her back in soft, layered-waves. She didn't seem to be engaging in the same conversation as the previous two. Instead, she surveyed the hall, as if observing the goings-on and the people. She then muttered something that made the other two girls look at her, and then at the hall as well. The third girl smiled and then seemed to scan the room. Her eyes then suddenly seemed to look right at Ginny.

Ginny raised an eyebrow as the girl made her way past the other tables, towards them. Hermione seemed to have the same expression and only Ron seemed to be able to say anything, which was a panicked repetition of "ohmerlinohmerlinohmerlin."

The girl stood right across from Harry, but she turned to smile at Hermione and Ginny too. It was only then did Ginny notice that this girl seemed to have a slight mix to her, as if she was partially English with a little bit of French as well. What's more, this girl had purple eyes. Ginny frowned and wondered for a moment whether they were her true eye color.

"Hi Harry," she said.

Harry, who was busy eating his breakfast next to Ginny, suddenly looked up. His eyes lit up.

"Oh hi, Celestina," he greeted, "you're back."

"Glad to be," said the girl named Celestina. She seemed genuinely happy. She smiled widely at Harry before saying. "Thank you."

Harry seemed to be taken by surprise, "'Thank you' for what?"

Celestina gave a small laugh. "You know, for this." She gestured around her, at the Great Hall, at the people, "Bringing peace."

"I couldn't have done it alone. I had loads of help from these guys," Harry said, motioning to Hermione, Ginny and Ron (who seemed to be gaping at Celestina).

"Of course," Celestina said, turning to all of them and subsequently saying Thank You to them. Ron turned away and Ginny noticed that her brother's skin for once looked redder than his hair.

"But, Harry," Celestina said, looking back at Harry. "Everyone'd be lying if they said that you weren't crucial and most important reason for Voldemort's demise."

Ginny glanced to Harry. She noticed however that Hermione seemed to have lost interest in her Potions book and Celestina. She was now glaring at Ron who still had his head turned away.

"I mean," Celestina said, "I was just mentioning to Isabelle and Chloe what a difference it's all made. Have you noticed?"

Harry looked around and shook his head slowly, admitting that he hadn't.

"Well take a look. I was going to sit at the Ravenclaw table, but there are other people from other houses sitting there. In fact, no one's seated where their houses used to."

Ginny blinked for a moment. No, she hadn't noticed that. She briefly glanced around the room and, to her surprise, Celestina was right. Although she, Harry and the rest were sitting in what they knew to be the Gryffindor table, they were the only ones from their house. To their far left were a couple of Hufflepuffs while on the table behind them, which used to be the Slytherin table, sat two groups of Ravenclaws and a few other younger Gryffindors.

"Well I won't keep you," Celestina said, stepping back, "Have a good day back. Bye Hermione. Bye, Ron."

Both Ron and Hermione jumped at Celestina's goodbye. She didn't seem to notice however and walked away to the neighboring table, to where her other two friends had already settled.

Ginny tore her eyes away from Celestina. She whipped her head to Harry.

"So, she is…?"

Harry, who still seemed to be smiling at Celestina's direction, looked at Ginny. "Oh, she's Celestina Warlock. She's from our year in Ravenclaw."

"I've never seen her before," Ginny said.

"You probably wouldn't have," Hermione suddenly said, "She left after our fifth year—I think she left when some of the other students' families told them to come home because of what was happening back then."

"And Ron's acting like a child because…?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Isn't it obvious?"

"He sort of fancies her. Sort of," said Harry.

Ginny looked to Ron who was now busying himself by pouring orange juice into his glass.

"You 'sort of' fancy her?" she asked.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Only when she's around—which is almost like 'never'? Like Hermione said, she didn't come back for our sixth year. And even before then we hardly ever had classes with their house. So I hardly see her."

"Well you've got Hermione," Harry smiled. Hermione glared at Harry. "No need to worry, right?"

"We'll see about that," Hermione said, opening her Potions book again.

"'We'll see about that'?" Ron repeated, clearly not understanding the point that he knew Hermione was concealing behind her statement.

Ginny groaned, "She means you're going to have a challenge to prove yourself."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Ron asked, "It's not like I'll see her all that much. Maybe just here in the Great Hall in the mornings or something."

"What about during our classes with the Ravenclaws, you mean?" Harry tried to decipher. He knew Hermione and Ginny well enough that he already knew that they, through their secret Female Language could already understand what the other is thinking without having to say it. He just needed to traverse along those lines in order to help Ron.

"You're daft as well, Harry?" Ginny asked, frowning. She shook her head and stood up, checking her watch. "I better go. Anyway, _no_. She means your classes in general. Haven't you seen your term schedule yet?"

Harry and Ron looked at each other in understanding.

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Obviously not. You have no classes with the Ravenclaws per se. You simply re-applied. Not everyone from your year did—in fact, hardly any did. There are only enough of you for one class. So you have all your classes with the other houses as well."

With that, she exited the Great Hall leaving an impressed Harry and a now worried Ron.


End file.
